adventures with friends

I've known these ladies for almost 5 years (!). And somehow, we always end up on the water together :]

I had an amazing group of girlfriends in college. The depth of our friendships were aided by the constant contact that characterized dorm/class life. I was blessed to transition out of that environment via a neighborhood in Mississippi where my new friends lived down the block and a walk through the neighborhood meant a hello and hang-out time with those who knew me. Now, in Dallas, I see these ladies once a week. Twice if I'm lucky. But I've come recently to realize that this difference in contact doesn't matter now. Enough time has passed and conversations and experiences to build up the level of depth I had in college and then mississippi. The spatial barrier has been climbed. I am there. And I'm glad to have realized it because now I can stop yearning for the community I miss and enjoy what I have - the same function in different form. Of course, I'll always miss my other friends and constantly attend to those binding ties. But I'm glad to have friends here, now, of the same calibur as then. And I hope that remains true of everywhere I go.

Up(down)date

My husband poked around here the other day and announced "well, nothing new in the life of sarah jo." It would seem that way wouldn't it? But just the opposite is true. When much is going on, I tend toward less thinking and consequently less sharing/posting.

 

I'm wrapping up a job with my church that I've enjoyed but can no longer juggle. Saying goodbye to this role is bittersweet. Yet, excitement fills me when I think of all the new possibilities of serving this little community I love.

 

I welcomed February hesitantly. As my birthday month, it always seems dark and dreary with downcast weather and dashed hopes for trancendant birthday experiences along with a re-evaluation of my life which typically include struggles for 1. contentment and 2.joy despite disallusions (this struggle seems to grow with age).

 

Our household has been fighting sickness and an impending move hangs gloomily over our heads.

 

I also admit to tuning into this cast of characters (with the majority of the world) and waiting with batted breath for the next wonderful/awful development. But they make me smile and February seriously needs more smiles (in lei of sunshine or flowers). So there is my update. There is some 'new' coming and much 'new' hoped for but since nothing is actually new, I try to keep smiling.

The Bride and the Groom

It seems the popular thing to do these days is to accept Christ but reject the church. On Christian blogs (with large followings), her weaknesses are touted, her name dragged through the mud and rarely is there an encouraging word for her or an exhortation for us to help her.

Do we honestly think Christ is the kind of groom who doesn't mind His bride getting bashed?

Yes, she has many faults. But Christ says he has taken it upon Himself the responsibility of presenting her perfect one day to His Father. Perhaps, then, we ought to do more to build her up, especially knowing her glorious end.

blooming

I love flowers. I finally decided to try my hand at growing some - so I ordered a bunch of bulbs on a whim. Matt has indulged me by picking up some books on the subject.

In January, my Amaryllis bloomed. Currently, it is in it's second set of flowers and measures almost 3 feet tall. I set the pot on the floor and the flowers come up almost to my waist - incredible!

I've also planted Narcissus, tulips, and hyacinth. My hyacinth is already blooming and I'm so excited. Even though the growing process has taken more patience than I'm typically willing to give (my sewing endeavor was a massive failure partially for this reason), I've stuck with it and nothing has died and the results are so inspiring. I really need the beauty to remind me of goodness in the middle of dreary winter.

books

I've just finished reading these two books. The first one is sort of interesting but a little slow on the story-telling anecdotal side and a bit confusing on the philosophical side.

The second one is well-written and interesting to those who like scientific experiments, statistics, and their possible sociological implications (which I do). Those who are artistic or who always thought they might be, would probably also like the book.

It's good to be reading again.

When I was young (nostalgia series)

When I was young, I crawled in drainage pipes.

You could enter the system by the pond where the drainage opening was big enough to hold a car. Quickly, though, the pipes narrowed until a human could barely squeeze through. We would follow the labyrinth under the streets and parking lots of our university -- try to scare people by calling out through the drainage slots in the road. Eventually, we made our way under the city street popping up through a manhole in the parking lot of popular bbq joint. It was great fun :]

Our code word for this dank, stinky, filthy place was Australia, because it was 'down under'. Going to Australia was a rite of passage. It was actually best to go right after a torrential rain, because that cleared out the system. But my first trip didn't have that timing, so we ran a muck of foul smelling small animals decaying in piles of trash.

For all of its actual awfulness, Australia was pretty cool.